A 15 GHz, $-$182 dBc/Hz/mW FOM, Rotary Traveling Wave VCO in 90 nm CMOS

This letter presents a phase-noise-centric design methodology of a rotary traveling wave voltage controlled oscillator (RTW VCO). Based upon this methodology, a 15 GHz multiphase RTW VCO is realized in a standard 90 nm CMOS process. Particularly, shielded coplanar striplines are exploited to provide better shielding protection and higher characteristic impedance with comparable Q-factor than conventional coupled transmission lines. Measured results of the proposed RTW VCO demonstrates the frequency tuning range of 2 GHz, the output power level of 11.3 dBm, the phase noise of 109.6 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, the clock RMS jitter of 2 , and the power dissipation of 12 mW from a single 1.2-V supply. The chip core occupies the area of 0.2 .